Author: Satish Nandgaonkar
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: November 13, 2002
Karate may not be a swadeshi martial
art, but it does not really matter. In the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's package
for the Bharatiya nari, it certainly has a place. But not jeans.
At a three-day bravery training
camp for women (Mahilansathi Shaurya Prashikshan Shibir, officially) at
a high school in Chembur in north-eastern Mumbai, the VHP women's wing,
Durgavahini, has been giving 119 women lessons in karate, yoga, fighting
with bamboo sticks and rifle-shooting. That is apart from lectures on Ramjanmabhoomi
and 'western cultural invasion'.
A large VHP flag flutters on a pole
near a small dais in the sprawling school ground. At the edge of the ground,
stands an imposing sculpture depicting a war sequence from the Kargil war
- the Pakistani army on hilltops fighting the Indian soldiers on the ground.
Inside a courtyard in the school, several rows of salwar-kameez-clad girls
are having a mook bhojan (silent luncheon).
Many of the teenage girls knew nothing
about the ideology Durgavahini subscribes to when they joined. Some knew
an RSS acquaintance who suggested that the camp was good for personality
development. Some were attracted by the self-defence techniques the camp
would teach. But on Tuesday, the last of the three-day camp, they seemed
convinced how "forced" conversions should be banned, the "symbolic" significance
of constructing a Ram temple in Ayodhya, and how the "frivolous" trend
like the Valentine's and Friendship Day celebrations were not part of the
Indian culture.
"We, of course, had lectures and
discussions on a range of topics including VHP's three-point Shri Ramjanmabhoomi
programme, Western cultural invasion, the poor portrayal of women in advertising,
and Indian cinema, the scientific basis for Indian cultural values etc.
We had girls from various income groups, and belonged to Maharashtrian,
Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Hindi, and Punjabi-speaking families," said Ranjana
Darpe, the chief co-ordinator of the camp.
According to Darpe, the camp was
aimed at developing the self-confidence of Mumbai's girls. "They discussed
about the attacks on women like the Jayabala Asher incident or the Borivali
train rape, and were told about how they could protect themselves with
the self-defence techniques. They were shy when they joined, but they were
made to express their opinions such issues, and they emboldened," Darpe
said.
Most of the girls are impressed.
Said Anita Landge, a 19-year-old F.Y.B Com student from SNDT College, Matunga:
"I am finishing my NCC training this year, and I have attended several
camps. But this camp was truly different. I learnt rifle-shooting, river-crossing
and rappelling in the NCC, but the whole emphasis remained on military
exercises. But in this camp, there was emphasis on cultural values. We
sang bhajans together. I learnt karate techniques. I have already decided
to join the next camp in May."
Nineteen-year-old Durga Mote, S.Y.B.Com
student in a Girgaum college, said she was sceptical about the camp when
an RSS acquaintance recommended it. "Nationalism is good. It is not necessary
that it is linked with the Ramjanmabhoomi issue all the time. But, forcible
conversions should not be allowed," she said.
15-year-old Neha Dubey, a Class
IX student in YS School in Kurla, recalled the talk by Dada Vedak, VHP
regional convenor for Maharashtra and Goa during the camp.
"Dada said we have to move ahead
with the feeling that the temple at Ramjanmabhoomi is going to be made
one day. We were explained how the Western culture worships stree murti
(women's physical form), while the Hindu culture worships the stree shakti
(the power of womanhood). I understand that one has to learn English to
build one's career in today's times, but I do not approve of wearing jeans."
Shraddha Thakur, 19year-old computer
student from Borivali, supported the discussions on the meaninglessness
of Valentine's Day.
"There is always some day to he
celebrated. These are not part of our culture," she said.
The VHP women's wing offered a strategy
too." We were also explained how we could protest against the poor portrayal
of women in ads and films by writing letters against them," Thakur added.
